Path

“…If you can’t get a hold of sandbags, Sweat explained he’s learned a trash bag one-third filled with water can make a “good substitute.” As for the garage, he noted that sealing it off with duct tape can be a good way to prevent “water intrusion.” He also added that paint cans and five-gallon buckets can serve as a good way to easily elevate furniture.

Even if you’re evacuating, he suggested that everyone trip the main breaker so the electricity in the house isn’t running. An electric current and water is a lethal combination; Sweat revealed that a volunteer, who went to check on a house, was electrocuted and killed because the power was on.

For those who didn’t evacuate, Sweat urged people to wear clothes to bed because “nothing looks worse than seeing people on the news in water-logged nightgowns and boxer shorts.”

His other tips included wearing hard-soled shoes and carrying identification, a flashlight, and a large white sheet to signal for help if necessary…”

The loss of the ocean is actually due to the proximity of Irma to the Bahamas and the storm’s low-pressure center. When a storm has such an intense low pressure, it can impact the surface of the water because there is less atmospheric pressure being applied. If you were to take a look at a cross section of the storm through the water you would see a bulging effect. This bulging is the storm surge that Irma borrowed from the area around the Bahamas. It is quite noticeable in Long Island because this is a shallow area with unvarying depth. This causes the impact to be so remarkable.
When will the water come back?

The ocean around Long Island will gradually come back as Irma moves on and she steals extra water under the low pressure from somewhere else…”

Hurricane Irma exposes racial tensions on smashed St. Martin By thomas adamson and danica m. coto, associated press MARIGOT, St. Martin — Sep 11, 2017, 3:23 PM ET abcnews.go.com“… It’s common practice for tourists to be evacuated first from disaster zones for practical reasons, as they are staying in hotels and not in their homes and tend to have fewer resources such as food and vehicles. The French prime minister insisted Monday that the only people being prioritized were the most vulnerable.

Government spokesman Christophe Castaner said he understood islanders’ frustration with the government response but blamed part of the controversy on their “emotional shock, an impact that’s extremely hard psychologically.”

Soudiagom and other witnesses told Guadeloupe 1ere that the boat they took Friday carried tourists, including Americans, to safety but left many St. Martin residents behind, including needy mothers and children…”

The storm, which was downgraded to Category 3 after making landfall as a rare Category 5 hurricane in Cuba overnight, has sent 75,000 people into shelters in Florida. More than six million people have been warned to evacuate its path. ..

“..While many Floridians have raced out of state to avoid Hurricane Irma, a brave few have put themselves in harm’s way to help others get to a safe place One of those such heroes is Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Bernard Reedy, who remained in the path of the storm to help wheelchair-bound residents escape the storm Heading into training camp, Reedy was somewhat of a long-shot to make the Bucs’ 53-man roster, but his special teams prowess and impressive speed helped him lock in a spot for Week 1 ..”NFL player helps wheelchair-bound residents avoid Hurricane Irma Updated: 1:28 PM EDT Sep 10, 2017 National Desk Staff wtae.com“..Wide receiver Bernard Reedy has worked for Care Ride, a company that helps transport wheelchair-bound residents, making $11 per hour, according to a Sunday story from the NFL team.
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But he decided to give the transportation service a call and has worked to help people in the Tampa Bay area evacuate during the past few days as the storm arrives, the story says.

Reedy started the transportation-service position after he was cut by the Falcons in 2015 and saw a Care Ride van client being dropped off at a Burger King, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

He said he’d rather not sit at home after he’s done working out.

According to the newspaper, Care Ride administrator Doug Johnson jokingly offered earlier this month to raise Reedy’s salary to $13 per hour with the hopes of keeping Reedy…”

Destructive winds, rain hit Florida as Hurricane Irma’s makes landfall in the Keys By Perry Stein, Joel Achenbach, Wesley Lowery and Mark Berman September 10 at 9:41 AM .washingtonpost.com“..MIAMI — The fierce winds of Hurricane Irma regained Category 4 strength with winds of 130 mph early Sunday, as the storm’s eye made it to the lower Florida Keys just before 9 a.m. The massive storm already has caused hundreds of thousands of power outages across South Florida, its leading edge lashing several major population centers.

The National Weather Service said the storm made landfall at Cudjoe Key in the lower Florida Keys at 9:10 a.m. on Sunday morning. Forecasters warn that a second landfall could happen later on Sunday.

Officials said storm surges in the Keys reach a devastating five to 10 feet there before the hurricane slowly proceeds up the state’s west coast….

While the National Hurricane Center had downgraded Irma to a Category 3 storm Saturday, the storm was upgraded again to Category 4 early Sunday. At 5 a.m., weather officials said the storm was plodding northwest at about 8 miles per hour, placing it on pace to reach Naples by about 5 p.m. The storm could potentially make a second landfall further north on Sunday….”Category 4 Hurricane Irma Makes Landfall in the Florida Keys; Strongest Keys Strike in 57 Years
Sep 10 2017 09:30 AM EDT
weather.com

“…Limbaugh has long been hell-bent on saying hurricanes and storms like it are part of a liberal conspiracy solely aimed at furthering the discussion on climate change, but his claims about Irma in his Tuesday broadcast sent many over the edge. ..”

HAARP waves seen in Florida with hurricane Irmahttps://youtu.be/cDneXRUJ6Jo“Joe Eigo
Published on Sep 10, 2017
HAARP waves appear as flashes especially with the earthquake engineered in Mexico. “

Irma was downgraded on Sunday afternoon to a Category 3 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds near 120 miles per hour, down from 130 m.p.h., according to the National Hurricane Center. The center said that while the storm was weakening, it was “expected to remain a powerful hurricane.”

The storm thrashed the Florida Keys early Sunday morning. A television news broadcast showed entire homes, and a person standing on a balcony, nearly submerged…”

\
-Answered?

A $150 Billion Misfire: How Disaster Models Got Irma WrongBy Brian K Sullivan ‎September‎ ‎11‎, ‎2017‎ ‎6‎:‎50‎ ‎PM Updated on ‎September‎ ‎12‎, ‎2017‎ ‎12‎:‎10‎ ‎PM bloomberg.com“..By one estimate, the total cost dropped to about $50 billion Monday from $200 billion over the weekend. The state escaped the worst because Irma’s eye shifted away from the biggest population center of Miami-Dade County.

The credit goes to the Bermuda High, which acts like a sort of traffic cop for the tropical North Atlantic Ocean. The circular system hovering over Bermuda jostled Irma onto northern Cuba Saturday, where being over land sapped it of some power, and then around the tip of the Florida peninsula, cutting down on storm surge damage on both coasts of the state.
….

…In the end, Irma landed on the Florida Keys as a Category 4 hurricane with 130-mile (209 kilometers) per hour winds, then as a Category 3 at Marco Island. It reached the Tampa Bay area as a Category 2. By contrast, Hurricane Andrew in 1992 plowed into the east side of Florida as a Category 5…”

Harvey spins deeper inland; full scope of damage is unknownBy frank bajak, associated press CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Aug 27, 2017, 12:46 AM ET abcnews.go.com“.. Throughout the region between Corpus Christi and Houston, many people feared that toll was only the beginning. Authorities did not know the full scope of damage because weather conditions prevented emergency crews from getting into the hardest-hit places. And they dreaded the destruction that was yet to come from a storm that could linger for days and unload more than 40 inches (100 centimeters) of rain on cities, including dangerously flood-prone Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest…”

Rockport, Texas

‘We lost everything’: Rockport, Texas suffers major hurricane damage By Eric Levenson, CNN Updated 5:13 PM ET, Sat August 26, 2017 cnn.com“..”There’s been widespread devastation,” he said.
The storm, which landed as a Category 4 but has since been downgraded to a tropical storm, brought high winds and heavy rains to the area. Further flooding over the next few days could add more considerable damage to the reeling city. ..”

The mayor of Rockport, Texas, says the town has suffered “widespread damage” from Hurricane Harvey as the storm continues to dump rain across southeast Texas. Mayor Charlie Wax joined CBSN to discuss the situation in Rockport, one of the towns hardest hit by the storm.”

Houston, Texas

A flash flood emergency was in effect for parts of the Houston area. National Weather Service and local officials are advising Houston-area residents to avoid traveling.
Three to 4 inches of rainfall were reported in the region in one hour’s time. First responders investigated the report of a woman swept away in her vehicle by floodwaters…”

CBS 11 News reporter Jason Allen was in Victoria on Saturday morning as Hurricane Harvey continued to create damage.”

Crosby

Explosions possible after ‘pops’ heard at storm-crippled Texas chemical plant, officials say By Alex Horton, Amy B Wang and Lindsey Bever August 31 at 3:43 PM washingtonpost.com“…CROSBY, Tex. — Hours after noisy “chemical reactions” and fires broke out at a storm-battered chemical plant — sending numerous sheriff’s deputies to the hospital, and spreading smoke and alarm across the area — the facility’s operators warned that explosions were possible, even as authorities scrambled to reassure the public that no “concerning” levels of hazardous chemicals had been detected in the air.

Arkema, the French chemicals group that runs the plant, said the Harris County Emergency Operations Center notified company officials early Thursday of two explosions and black smoke coming from the facility, which is about 25 miles northeast of Houston. The plant already had been under about six feet of water from the rains unleashed by Harvey, prompting officials the day before to establish a 1.5-mile evacuation zone…”

“He looks like he’s scared. He doesn’t know what’s going on,” Bruso narrates in one of 10 YouTube videos documenting the bird’s surprise visit. “He just kind of hopped on in and doesn’t want to leave. I’m not sure what to make of it.”

Bruso said he tried to shoo the hawk away, to no avail. Videos later showed the animal perched on the door of his parked car, still refusing to fly away. Bruso eventually took the bird inside and gave it chicken hearts to snack on…”

Creativity

“..Texas gospel singer’s powerful voice lifts spirits in Houston hurricane shelter. A Texas woman brings smiles to her fellow evacuees at a Hurricane Harvey shelter with her beautiful voice. A group of gospel singers broke into song at the Lone Star Convention & Expo Center on Tuesday to lift the spirits of thousands brought to the shelter. Victoria White’s powerful voice can be heard throughout the hall filled with beds and cots…”AMAZING! Houston Flooding Shelter Gospel Singers Perform on CNN Chris Cuomo Interview, from youtube.com‘Victoria White, Marquist Taylor give impromptu concert for Harvey victims at Houston, Texas Shelter during flooding”

At least 25 people have been killed and tens of thousands driven from their homes after Harvey came ashore on Friday near Corpus Christi as the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in more than half a century, swamping Houston with record rains and flooding.

The support from Mexico’s Red Cross, a non-government agency, is separate from the official aid offer.

The convoy of 33 English-speaking volunteers left from Mexico City for Texas, where they plan to work in Houston shelters for 20 days before being replaced by a fresh crop of volunteers.

Abbott said his state would accept the offer of assistance from neighboring Mexico as Harvey, now a tropical depression, spun across southeastern Texas into Louisiana on Wednesday, sending more people fleeing for shelter.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson thanked Mexico’s Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray, who was visiting Washington, for the offer of assistance.

“They’ve offered a wide range of assistance coordinating with the governor down in Texas and also through FEMA, but very generous of Mexico to offer their help at this very, very challenging time for our citizens down in Texas and now moving toward the border with Louisiana,” said Tillerson. “So thank you very much, Mr. Secretary.”..”

Health-Club CEO Offers His Dallas Home to Houstonians Uprooted by Hurricane Harvey By Glenn Hunter Published in Business & Economy August 29, 2017 9:45 am dmagazine.com
Chris Roussos of 24 Hour Fitness, who says all 33 of its Houston clubs have been closed, tells how the company is assisting employees.“North Texas executive Chris Roussos, who became CEO of health-club pioneer 24 Hour Fitness in May, has offered his Dallas home to the company’s district managers in Houston who’ve been displaced by Hurricane Harvey.

Thirty-three of the fitness company’s 71 Texas locations are in the Houston area, Roussos said, and all 33 have been shuttered in the wake of the devastating storm due to “safety concerns, and the inability of people to travel” within the city. 24 Hour Fitness, Roussos said, “set up emergency teams right away,” lining up volunteers and maintenance and reconstruction teams to deal with the storm’s destruction.

Most of the company’s locations, which range in size from 30,000 square feet to 45,000 square feet, have two stories, Roussos said, adding, “the first floors [of the Houston clubs] are gonna be pretty much wiped out.” A couple of 24 Hour Fitness employees were taken out of one club Sunday after being stranded and “eating protein bars and other products” from the club retail store until they could be rescued, he recalled….”

Petition to honor Houston’s ‘Mattress Mack’ gets support Good Morning America KELLY MCCARTHY,Good Morning America 16 hours ago (9.2.17)“As the catastrophic floodwaters forced residents all over the Houston area out of their homes, one business owner opened his doors, offering evacuees a safe and dry place to stay.

Jim McIngvale, better known as “Mattress Mack,” decided to turn his two Gallery Furniture showrooms in the city into evacuation shelters.

“I decided we’d open the store and make it a shelter for all the people who were disaffected,” McIngvale recently told ABC News. “We have these giant 24-foot box trucks that can get through 5 to 6 feet of water. We sent ’em out, picked up about 200 people. They were stranded on bridges, they were stranded in convenience stores, they were walking through the water with snakes and alligators, and we brought ’em out here.”

McIngvale said he’s not concerned at all about his merchandise and still plans to sell it after the storm.

“We’ll have a Harvey floor model sale, or something. I’ll come up with some shtick,” he said with a laugh. “These people are nice. They’re taking care of the furniture. Furniture’s made to be sat on, slept on, laid on, whatever. It’s just a product. It ain’t gonna hurt it.”

Since Sunday, Gallery Furniture estimates it’s had 400 people seek shelter at both stores. It’s also become a crash pad for National Guard members who have been deployed to the area.

What awaits Hurricane Harvey evacuees after they leave shelters

Hurricane Harvey victims: How to help

Now, the online community wants to show its appreciation for McIngvale by dedicating Aug. 26 as “Mattress Mack Day.”…”

“..Even before the floodwaters started to recede, members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association (AMYA), in partnership with Humanity First, sprang into action, distributing drinking water and using their raft to help families in need.

As roads into Houston began to open up by Tuesday (Aug. 29), more than $1,000 worth of critical food supplies from Austin were brought in. Over the next two days, 600 hot meals were prepared and distributed to Harvey evacuees.

As the Labor Day weekend began, Ahmadi youth from all over Texas and the country began to trickle in from as far as Chicago and Los Angeles. The trickle grew into more than 175 volunteers over the weekend. The band of youth organized into groups and started roaming the hardest hit areas of Houston (Kashmere Gardens, especially), not with any bad intention, but to knock on doors and help residents struggling to clean up their apartments and homes.

By the end of the Labor Day weekend, we had volunteered a total of 1,800 man hours, helped clean up over 64 homes, done 30 boat rescues and donated more than $10,000 in supplies. All this using Baitus Samee Mosque North of Houston as our command center…”

Emergency workers are trying to help those stranded in flooded areas of Texas as rain from what remains of Hurricane Harvey continues to batter the coast. Drone footage shows the extent of the damage across communities. Photo: AP”

Black MMA Fighter Says He Saved Stranded Harvey Victim With Confederate Flag
HuffPost Lilly Workneh,HuffPost 19 hours ago (August 31st 2017) “…Lewis, who is popularly known within the UFC as “The Black Beast,” has been helping families since Sunday by responding to messages on Facebook and using his Chevy pickup truck to move residents to safer spaces. ..

“I picked up one guy and his family, his wife ― he just kept apologizing to me, because all he really had was his clothes, and he wanted to take his Confederate flag,” Lewis told MMAJunkie on Monday. “He wanted to take that with him, and he just apologized and said, ‘Man, I’ll sit in the back of your truck, man. I don’t want to have my flag inside of your truck like this.’ I said, ‘Man, I’m not worried about that.‘’’

“His wife kept hitting him and saying, ‘You should have just left it,’” he added.

Lewis said he was unbothered by the flag, which many feel symbolizes America’s long history of racism. He just wanted to help.

“I don’t care about that,” Lewis told MMAjunkie. “I live in Texas. It ain’t nothing new. I’ve been living in the South all my life, and it ain’t nothing I hadn’t seen before or discussed about. I don’t care about that type of stuff. I just wanted to help him.”…”
*see Neutral Perspective: Confederate Flag is Racist and Not? goodnewseverybodycom.wordpress.com/

Josh James posted a video Wednesday to Facebook, showing a monster truck from the Rednecks with Paychecks dirt racetrack in Dallas pulling what appears to be a camouflage military truck out of floodwaters in the Copperfield area of Houston…”

Creeping Critters!

Wildernex Wildlife Control experts and local law enforcement agents remove a 10-foot gator from a home near Houston. “… (CNN)A Texas homeowner returned to his flood-marred home Friday in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey to a shocking surprise: a 10-foot gator in his living room.
Brian Foster made the discovery while assessing how badly the water had damaged his house near Lake Houston, north of Houston, he said…”

The best way to help Texans affected by disasters is to donate money to charitable agencies that are experienced in disaster relief, officials say.

Organizations such as the American Red Cross and Salvation Army are trained to respond to disasters such as Harvey, which is pounding the Texas Gulf Coast.

“Right now the best thing people can do is donate money,” said Katrina Farmer, director of American Red Cross offices in San Angelo, Abilene and Wichita Falls, Texas cities far from the coastline. “This is going to be an expensive disaster.”

“…Hurricane Harvey has been classified as one of the worst storms in American history, with some 30,000 people in need of shelter, and another 450,000 qualifying for federal assistance. Amid the devastating wreckage of the storm (the damage is estimated to cost up to $90 billion), it’s easy to forget about all the basic necessities so many Harvey victims are currently lacking, from soap and Band-Aids to diapers and clean underwear. But of course, these little, everyday things are essential for health and hygiene. Here are four types of items people in Houston desperately need—and how you can help provide them…”

Samaritan’s Purse Responds After Hurricane Harvey’s Punch August 28, 2017 • United States samaritanspurse.org
Samaritan’s Purse is responding to the devastation that Hurricane Harvey, once a Category 4 storm, has brought to the Texas coast. “..UPDATE: Please see “All Disaster Units Bound for Texas as Harvey Keeps Churning” for all the latest information—that story is being updated regularly as of August 31. This story was last updated about 1 p.m. on August 28.

Samaritan’s Purse disaster relief units are now in Texas as Harvey’s deadly fury has moved inland and continues to pummel the state, especially flood-prone Houston. Our teams are ready to go in and help homeowners in Jesus’ Name as soon as we are able to access affected communities.

When the Category 4 hurricane came ashore late Friday night, the coastal town of Rockport and other areas suffered considerable damage and at least one fatality was reported.

Houston, the fourth largest city in the U.S., is now getting battered, with more than three feet of rain having fallen in the last 24 hours. At least two people have drowned, and more than 2,000 people have been rescued—many of those from rooftops. Much of the city is under water, and rains could last four to five more days…”Samaritan’s Purse deploys 5 disaster relief units to Texas

CARIBBEAN ISLANDS-HAITI

cuba
MATTHEW hurricane southeast of Jamaica strengthened to a “powerful” Category 5 storm late Friday, forecasters said, and watches were in place for that nation as well as the southeastern coast of Haiti.
.

“…
Charleston wakes up under water: Deadly Hurricane Matthew brings more misery after it batters South Carolina and Georgia through the night, kills six in Florida and leaves 1.4 million without power
Hurricane Matthew continued to thunder along the east coast on Friday night and Saturday morning
It swept through the coast of Georgia at around 8pm and reached Charleston, South Carolina, at 1am
Most powerful hurricane to threaten the Atlantic Seaboard in more than a decade is set to make landfall
Six people died in Florida as a result of the aggressive storm which also killed almost 900 in Haiti..”

ACTION

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.As Haiti reels from the devastating effects of Hurricane Matthew, our team on the ground continues to work with local partners to distribute supplies to children and families in need. Because we pre-positioned supplies, we were able to begin distributions immediately after the storm. We have an international response team en route to Haiti to join our Haitian staff to best meet the needs of storm survivors.

Hurricane Matthew also tore through Cuba leaving mass destruction. We are working with partners on the ground to see what assistance they will need in the coming days.

A U.S. response team deploys later today for Florida to pre-position supplies as the Eastern seaboard braces for impact.

They will take a load of food, water and hygiene kits that can be distributed as needed. As always, our goal is to be among the first on the scene to help survivors quickly and efficiently. Similar to our responses for Katrina and Sandy, pre-positioning our teams and supplies enables us to do just that. ..”Haiti: Samaritan’s Purse Responding to Hurricane Matthew
October 8, 2016 • Haiti samaritanspurse.org“..This week Samaritan’s Purse sent two airlifts and 40 tons of water filters, heavy-duty plastic sheeting, hygiene kits, and blankets to help survivors of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti. A Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) was also aboard our DC-8. They have joined our field staff in distributing these relief supplies to Haitians in desperate need. The 40 tons of supplies will reach 5,000 households.

“Hurricane Matthew has wreaked havoc on Haiti,” said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse. “Our teams are on the ground helping in Jesus’ Name. They’re going to do all they can to meet the needs of the suffering people there. Please pray for the people of Haiti as they recover from this deadly storm.”

We urgently need your help to reach the people in Haiti who are worst affected by Hurricane Matthew, one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes in recent years. Donate now: https://www.oxfamamerica.org/matthew

Thousands of people have lost their homes, hundreds have been killed and the number of deaths is likely to rise. Oxfam is there delivering water purification kits and construction materials…”

World Vision is distributing desperately needed emergency relief supplies to survivors of deadly Hurricane Matthew. You can help by donating to the relief effort. http://www.wvi.org/help-haiti-recover“